The detained National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Monday filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit before a Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking his immediate release from custody.
Metuh had since January 5, 2016 been taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for questioning for allegedly benefiting from the $2.1bn arms funds allegedly diverted by a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).
The EFCC believed that Metuh received N400m of the allegedly diverted arms funds, but the PDP spokesperson had reportedly claimed that the sum was for an undisclosed service he rendered to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
On Monday, Metuh claimed in the suit he filed through his lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, that his arrest was part of the grand plan of the ruling All Progressives Congress to silence the opposition and make Nigeria a one-party country.
Metuh, through Adegboruwa, sought a declaration that his detention by the EFCC without access to his family and lawyer, and without being charged to court, amounted to a violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed under sections 33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution.
Adegboruwa argued that Metuh’s detention also breached the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He expressed the fear that Metuh was being kept under untidy or unhygienic conditions, which might take a toll on its health, as the EFCC was not adequately funded.